Mar 7, 2010

Luciana of German Fashion Blog "Lu zieht an. ♥"

A large number of female bloggers concern themselves with fashion. Just like fashion magazines, some of them attract many thousand readers: Take rail thin New York blogger Tavi, who started her influential fashion blog Style Rookie at the mere age of twelve.

GIRLS CAN BLOG would like to seize the opportunity and introduce to you healthier role models, like German blogger Luciana Schmidt, the editor of the popular, yet out of the ordinary fashion blog Lu zieht an. ♥. With her unique personality, Lu turns high-street fashion into original styles wearable for girls of all sizes.

GIRLS CAN BLOG mailed out a couple of questions to Lu, and received some interesting answers. Just click on the link below to find her statements both in English and German. What's your name, how old are you, and what do you do for a living (or all day, for that matter)?
My name is Luciana, I am 20 years old and I'm training to become a foreign language correspondence clerk. I'll be going to school for that for another 1,5 years.

How long have you been blogging? How did you get around to it?

I have been blogging since 12 January 2009. I had been blogging previously as well, albeit in a more diary-y style. Over time, I began to discover fashion blogs and thought "I could do that!" - that's how my blog came about.

What's your blog called? Why?

My blog's called "Lu zieht an. ♥". I liked the double entendre of the [German] word "anziehen" [means both "to dress" and "to attract"]. I try to unite those two meanings on my blog.

What are you blogging about? Why?

My blog is a "Daily Outfit Blog" (as often as I get around to put together an outfit every day - I doubt that people would enjoy seeing me wearing my slacks...). I blog about what I wear every day, the make-up that goes with it, and of course I describe my every day life a little. Personality is important, but there are some things I know to keep to myself as well. I do tend to be quite chatty, though.

To me it is also important to show that you can wear beautiful clothes with a size 40/42 [12/14, M/L], as well, and there's no need to be ashamed of your body. Curvy women are beautiful and I want to show to the women out there that you have plenty of options to dress well if you're self-confident. There's no need to dress in large sacks just because you're not skinny. Curves must be emphasized - bring on the emphasizing clothes! :)

Besides that I like to introduce my favorite online shops - these mini-guides consist of a brief review and are supposed to introduce unknown shops that are noteworthy.

Who's your target audience?

All women. No exceptions. And men, of course. :)

Who designed your blog? How much was that? In case you designed your own layout: Where did you learn how to?

I did my layout myself. That's inexpensive, but it takes a lot of time and some knowledge of HTML. HTML is rather easy and you will pick it up over time. I think the effort was worthwile, as now I have a totally individual layout. I adapt my layout to the seasons, by the way - on 21 March there'll be a different style up. :)

Do you use photos, MP3-files or video clips on your blog?

Naturally, photos are very important for my blog. No photo of the outfit, no post. From time to time, I add video clips and songs if they compliment a post.

How many readers do you have? How many would you like to have? Does their number even matter?

Today (05 March 2010) I have 490 official regular readers. How many anonymous readers I have, I'm not sure, but I hope that they are many. Naturally, I am interested in the number of readers - I'm reaching out, so I'm glad about every single one of them. The more, the merrier - just come and have a look! :)

Can you learn how to blog? Do you need to know a lot about computers? Do you have any advice for beginners?

I don't think you need to learn how to blog. You just start and find your way easily. Besides, everyone has their own style. If you blog with blogger.com, for example, you don't need to know much about computers at all, it's super easy. Should you like to put a lot of personality into your layout, however, some HTML-knowledge is needed.

My advice to you: be individual. Even if it's only your style of writing. :)

Do you use twitter, too? Why (not)? What pros and cons do you see when it comes to twitter?

Yeah, I've discovered twitter right after I took up blogging and started to twitter immediatly. It's a lot of fun and you can just mention stuff as you do it. Most of my follwers at twitter are also readers of my blog. A big con of twitter is that it is so addictive - after a while you start tweeting the smallest of news. ;)

Which other female bloggers can you recommend? Why?

One of my favorite blogs is "Chic und Schlau" ["Chic and Clever"]. It's run by a great, self-confident woman and is lively and entertaining. Mirjam is very pretty, too. A highly recommendable blog!

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